What to know about Trump’s plan to give Americans a $2,000 tariff dividend
By PAUL WISEMAN Associated Press WASHINGTON AP President Donald Trump boasts that his tariffs protect American industries lure factories to the United States raise money for the federal establishment and give him diplomatic leverage Now he s claiming they can finance a windfall for American families too He s promising a generous tariff dividend The president proposed the idea on his Truth Social media platform Sunday five days after his Republican Party lost elections in Virginia New Jersey and elsewhere largely because of voter discontent with his economic stewardship specifically the high cost of living Related Articles Lawsuit challenges TSA s ban on transgender officers conducting pat-downs Trump pardons the husband of Republican supporter Rep Diana Harshbarger of Tennessee White House s -year mortgage proposal has one notable benefit but a number of drawbacks Judge adopts Utah congressional map creating a Democratic-leaning district for Speaker Johnson faces an unruly House as lawmakers return for shutdown vote The tariffs are bringing in so much money the president posted that a dividend of at least a person not including high income people will be paid to everyone Budget experts scoffed at the idea which conjured memories of the Trump administration s short-lived plan for DOGE dividend checks financed by billionaire Elon Musk s federal budget cuts The numbers just don t check out declared Erica York vice president of federal tax guidelines at the nonpartisan Tax Foundation Detail are scarce including what the income limits would be and whether payments would go to children Even Trump s treasury secretary Scott Bessent sounded a bit blindsided by the audacious dividend plan Appearing Sunday on ABC s This Week Bessent announced he hadn t discussed the dividend with the president and suggested that it might not mean that Americans would get a check from the governing body Instead Bessent revealed the rebate might take the form of tax cuts The tariffs are certainly raising money billion in the budget year that ended Sept up from billion in fiscal But they still account for less than of federal revenue and have done little to dent the federal budget deficit a staggering trillion in fiscal Budget wonks say Trump s dividend math doesn t work John Ricco an analyst with the Budget Lab at Yale University reckons that Trump s tariffs will bring in billion to billion a year in revenue But a dividend if it went to all Americans including children would cost billion It s clear that the revenue coming in would not be adequate he commented Ricco also noted that Trump couldn t just pay the dividends on his own They would require act from Congress Moreover the centerpiece of Trump s protectionist pact policies double-digit taxes on imports from almost every country in the world may not survive a legal challenge that has reached the U S Supreme Court In a hearing last week the justices sounded skeptical about the Trump administration s assertion of sweeping power to declare national emergencies to justify the tariffs Trump has bypassed Congress which has authority under the Constitution to levy taxes including tariffs If the court strikes down the tariffs the Trump administration may be refunding money to the importers who paid them not sending dividend checks to American families Trump could find other techniques to impose tariffs even if he loses at the Supreme Court but it could be cumbersome and time-consuming Mainstream economists and budget analysts note that tariffs are paid by U S importers who then generally try to pass along the cost to their customers through higher prices The dividend plan misses the mark the Tax Foundation s York noted If the goal is relief for Americans just get rid of the tariffs
